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...make a simple square grid?

I'm trying to layout a 1x1 inch grid on a rather large map. I have had success using the define pattern technique before on smaller maps, but for some reason when I add the new fill layer for this pattern the 1x1 squares turn into a sort of plaid with rectangles and different size squares. I'm sure this is a ridiculously simple fix, but my efforts to search the interwebs have failed me.

Depends on the size of the pattern. If you're using something like a 10 x 10 pattern then when you scale it up for a larger spacing then you get little gray parts. The fix for that is to make your own pattern. Make a new document that is 1 inch by 1 inch, create a new layer, use a pencil of size 1 to 3 and draw a line down one side and across the bottom. Hide the background then Edit- Define Pattern (in photoshop)

If the radiance of a thousand suns was to burst at once into the sky, that would be like the splendor of the Mighty One...I am become Death, the Shatterer of worlds.
-J. Robert Oppenheimer (father of the atom bomb) alluding to The Bhagavad Gita (Chapter 11, Verse 32)

I tried that too. First I tried creating a pattern based on a 1" x 1" new document (300dpi). Ctrl-A to select all then stroke with a 2 pixel inside stroke. Use that as the "define pattern" and it turns out poor. So I looked on the net to find tutorials on here, youtube, and the internet in general and found the "L" type grid to define the pattern (the 1-3 pixles down the side and across the bottom). Still no result worth keeping.

Thanks for the suggestion, but I'm sure I'm not the only one that's run into this problem.

Great Idea

Here's the two items. The file I used to make the pattern is a 1x1 inch with a stroked border. The image labeled plaid is the outcome when I try to fill a layer with the pattern. Something is fishy. When I try it on just a 10 inch x 10 inch canvas it turns out fine.

It looks plaid only when zoomed out, as in the thumbnail. At 100% (full size) it looks fine.

If the radiance of a thousand suns was to burst at once into the sky, that would be like the splendor of the Mighty One...I am become Death, the Shatterer of worlds.
-J. Robert Oppenheimer (father of the atom bomb) alluding to The Bhagavad Gita (Chapter 11, Verse 32)